CHENNAI  TUESDAY  OCTOBER 9, 2018  `5.00  PAGES 22  LATE CITY EDITION US ECONOMISTS WIN NOBEL FOR WORK ON CLIMATE AND GROWTH William Nordhaus, Paul Romer win the Nobel Prize in Economics 2018 for integrating innovation and climate with economic growth WILLIAM NORDHAUS PAUL ROMER ADDRESSED MOST PRESSING QUESTIONS HOW THEIR WORK CAME TOGETHER The duo addressed “some of our time’s most basic and pressing questions about how we create long-term sustained and sustainable growth,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said, adding that they constructed models that explain how the P13 market economy interacts with nature and knowledge ■ ■ ■ Nordhaus, 77, was specifically honoured for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis Romer, 62, meanwhile won for integrating technological innovations into long-run macroeconomic analysis Both were tipped as frontrunners for the Nobel in recent years $1.01 mn (9 MN SWEDISH KRONOR) PRIZE NORDHAUS & ROMER WILL SHARE CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Pak mole in BrahMos missile project held Bright, young engineer allegedly trapped by a woman impersonating as an employee of a US firm, claim police FIGHT FOR RIGHTS SPY FILES Police try to disperse students of Delhi University during a protest near Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station in New Delhi on Monday. Part of a student collective, Pinjra Tod, they were agitating against arbitrary curfew timings for them at college hostels in the city P11 | NAVEEN KUMAR Railway reservation forms get ‘T’ option | P2 10-MLD water treatment plant proposed | P2 First phase of ULB elections in J&K peaceful | P9 Nine arrested for attack on Bihar schoolgirls | P9 ‘WCD ministry intervention led to MeToo movement’ | P11 United Youth Front, Indian Youth Cong rally against govt | P11 Will take call on alliances once ’19 polls notified: CM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai CHIEF Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday submitted a 20-point charter of demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a 25-minute-long meeting that sparked speculations of an alliance between the AIADMK and BJP for 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Palaniswami later told media his party would announce its alliance plans once polls were notified. The demands made by Palaniswami, was accompanied by Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, in the New Delhi meeting include approval for a programme to rehabilitate irrigation systems in the Cauvery basin at an estimated cost of `17,600 crore, disbursal of pending grantsin-aid of `8,699 crore for key schemes, early settlement of IGST of `5,426.60 crore for 2017-2018 and the ad-hoc settlement of IGST dues for September 2018. He pressed the demand for special assistance of `2,000 crore to make up for “unfair treatment” meted out to TN by the 14th Finance Commission. Still, all eyes were focused on political implications of the meeting between the two leaders, after a year. Later asked if AIADMK would ally with the BJP for the 2019 polls, the CM said, “Elections have not been notified. After they are notified, our party will take a decision on what kind of alliance strategy could be adopted.” Asked the reasons for postponing bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in TN, Palaniswami said the Election Commission had spelt out the reasons clearly. Questioned whether TN would reduce VAT on petrol and diesel he said, “Already, much financial resources are required for many departments... After creating sufficient resources, State government will consider reducing VAT on petrol P3 and diesel.” After creating sufficient resources, State government will consider reducing VAT on petrol and diesel - Edappadi K Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Nishant Agarwal, an engineer with Nagpur-based BrahMos Aerospace, by arrested in a joint operation by the Military Intelligence as well as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad Agarwal faces charges of passing on classified information about the Brahmos missile project to Pakistan’s spy agency ISI A senior engineer, he was heading HydraulicsPneumatics and Warhead Integration (Production Department) at BrahMos Aerospace facility on Wardha Road in Nagpur Agarwal used to pass on confidential info to his ISI handlers through a ‘coded game’ MEET THE MGR, WHO DEVELOPED A BLOOD BANK 5 units donated each day “We donate not less than five units of blood each day,” says Mamidi Govinda Rao.“No death should take place due to lack of blood. That is the motto of the mobile blood bank,” he adds G R A M E S H B A B U @ Srikakulam WHAT started out as a modest attempt by a youngster in a small town in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district a year ago to help those in dire need of blood, is now a source of lifeline for thousands of patients across the state. Realising that blood banks in the district are unable to meet the rising demand for blood, Mamidi Govinda Rao, or MGR, roped in a small group of volunteers who would be available anytime anywhere to donate blood. A year later, it has grown to become a fullfledged mobile blood bank with over 3,600 members not just in Srikakulam but in neighbouring Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts, too, making blood unit just a call away . This is how the MGR Mobile Blood Bank works: Those who want to donate blood register their names by submitting details of their blood group, hemoglobin levels and residential address with contact numbers. Upon receiving a phone call or a WhatsApp message from a patient’s relative seeking a specific group of blood, no less than four donors rush to the hospital to donate blood. Since the launch, members have donated blood to more than 1,500 patients. With rising instances of drop in platelets count due to seasonal fevers, the demand for blood has shot up in the recent past, says Rao. “We have donated the blood to about 500 victims in the past two months alone,” he adds. To contact MGR Blood Bank, call or WhatApp on 7702044449. India to buy Iranian oil in Nov despite US sanctions: Pradhan EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi RUPEE PAYMENT Iran may accept rupee payment and use the money to pay for equipment and food items it buys from India. UCO Bank and IDBI Bank will route the payment as the two have no exposure to the US financial system INDIA is unfazed by the impending US sanctions on Iranian oil and will continue to buy fuel from the country Confirming this, oil min. ister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday that two Indian oil firms have placed orders with Iran for November. US sanctions on Iranian oil trade and banking channels are set to go into effect from November 4, with the former maintaining that countries which don’t cut Iranian imports to zero will face penalties. While there has been some talk of sanction waivers from the US, whether India will get one is uncertain at this stage. “Two of our oil companies have made nominations to purchase Iranian oil in November. We do not know if we will get waiver (from US sanctions) or not,” Pradhan said at an event here. Indian Oil Corporation and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals have placed orders for a cumulative 1.25 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran for November. Pradhan asserted that India’s policies will be “guided by our national interest”, and that India would have to fulfil its own domestic requirements. “We expect global leaders to understand India’s needs,” he said. According to IOC chairman Sanjiv Singh, while negotiations are still going on, it is likely that Iran will sell its oil for rupees once the US sanctions cut off dollar banking channels. “Iran has been accepting rupee payments even without sanctions… we will have to see how it evolves,” he said. Nearly 10 per cent of crude oil imported in 2017-18 was from Iran. Sources say this could come down in FY19 due to sanctions. Pleas to review SC Sabarimala order filed; CM raps protests EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE N A M I TA B A J PA I & A B H I J I T M U LY E @ Lucknow/Mumbai THE UP Anti-Terrorist Squad in coordination with their Maharashtra counterparts and Military Intelligence on Monday nabbed Nishant Agarwal, a Nagpur-based engineer of BrahMos Aerospace Ltd for allegedly passing on classified information about the Brahmos missile project to Pakistan. Brahmos Aersopace, an IndoRussian joint venture, has its base near Nagpur. Last year, it tested certain advanced versions of the weapon system. The facility from where Agarwal was arrested makes propellants for the missile. Two of his accomplices, one from Kanpur and the other from Agra, are also under ATS scanner. Besides handling new projects at BrahMos Nagpur and Pilani sites, Agarwal headed a team of 40 employees. Asim Arun, Inspector General, UP ATS, said the name of Agarwal, who won the Young Scientist Award from Government of India for his exemplary services in 2017-18, surfaced during interrogation of honeytrapped BSF jawan Achutanand Mishra arrested recently from Delhi on charges of sending photos, videos of 3D model of BSF Academy arms and am, munition on WhatsApp to an ISI agent. “We scanned profiles of some other women on Facebook, only to find that a ‘woman impersonated herself as an employee of a US firm had befriended Agarwal in 2016. Later, she lured him to work for her in lieu of money Arun said. ,” WOMEN AGE CAP @ New Delhi Nishant Agarwal, who was allegedly spying for Pakistan’s ISI Interned at IIT Agarwal hails from Roorkee in Uttarakhand and studied at the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra. He worked as a research intern at IIT Roorkee. He had also won the Young Scientist Award from Govt of India for his exemplary services in 2017-18 The woman turned out to be a Pakistani. Agarwal supplied vital inputs to his ISI handlers through a coded game. The action at Nagpur is a follow-up of the arrest of three persons, including an ISI agent and two DRDO employees at Kanpur. Agarwal was in contact with the trio, and the ISI agent had established contact with him through Facebook usP9 ing a fake profile. DAYS after the Supreme Court allowed women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple, the National Ayyappa Devotees Association and the Nair Service Society (NSS) on Monday filed review petitions, with the former saying the court’s verdict was “absolutely untenable and irrational, if not perverse”. Those who approached the court seeking lifting of the restrictions on women entering the shrine were not devotees of Ayyappa, claimed National Ayyappa Devotees Association president Shylaja Vijayan. “The verdict affects the fundamental rights of millions of Ayyapa devotees,” she argued. “The petitioners believe that no legal luminary... can be a match to the common sense and wisdom of the masses. No judicial pronouncement... can be a match for the voice of the people,” her petition read. The NSS, for its part, said many essential religious practices would be rendered void and the religion itself may be rendered out of existence if the general ground of equality under Article 14 was resorted to and essential religious practices were tested on the principle of rationality . Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, meanwhile, flayed those opposed to the verdict, adding that the people of the state faced the recent floods unitedly but deliberate , efforts were now being made to destroy that unity . P8 Fumes from generator smother Karur mom, daughter to death E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Karur Mamidi Govinda Rao (extreme right) with members of his MGR mobile blood bank in Srikakulam | EXPRESS IN a tragedy apparently similar to one that occurred in Chennai last week, a 40-year-old-woman and her daughter were found dead Karur on Monday reportedly having died of suffocation after inhaling fumes from a generator used in the night during a power cut. According to the police, Sundari (40) lived with her husband Raja and their three children at JJ Nagar in Ramanujar Nagar Colony . Two of the children stay at a hostel while one of them, Ragavi (16), was a Class 11 student at a Chennai school. Raja owns a fruit stall in the town. After a red alert was issued for heavy rain on Sunday Ra, gavi returned to her parents’ house. As power supply had reportedly been disrupted, Sundari and Ragavi slept at the house with the generator on while Raja slept at the shop. Generator fumes reportedly filled the poorly-ventilated house killing the two. On Monday morning, neighbours. suspicious, broke into the house and found them dead. Karur Town police registered a case and are investigating.